Mental Health First Aid

The #1 protective factor in youth mental health is a trusted adult. By getting certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid, you can be that trusted adult who is trained with skills and knowledge about what to do and what to say.


Get Trained

AIM’s Youth Mental Health First Aid Program provides education about youth mental health struggles and the importance of early intervention. We seek to educate adults to intervene early to prevent more serious symptoms and disorders from developing.

Adults can get trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid to recognize and respond to mental health challenges in young people, creating a community where youth can grow into mentally healthy adults.

It is a skills-based training that teaches adults how to identify, understand and respond to an adolescent (ages 12-18) who may be experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge. 

What to Expect

Youth Mental Health First Aid is available in English and Spanish. The training teaches a five-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. It is a 7-hour training in total that consists of two hours of self-paced online asynchronous pre-work, followed by a 5-hour Instructor Led Session.  

AIM offers trainings for groups of 10 or more, virtually or in-person. This is a great option for an organization or school that would like to train their full staff.

Click here to see the list of the organizations and groups whose teams have been trained by AIM. Email Olivia Schultheis at [email protected] to schedule a group training.

Become part of the solution

The US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, issued a report and call to action focused on the mental health crisis faced by our nation’s children, teens, and young adults. “The challenges today’s generation of young people face are unprecedented and uniquely hard to navigate,” he wrote. “And the effect these challenges have had on their mental health is devastating.”

The urgency of the Surgeon General’s call to action is underscored by 2020 data:

  • Suicide is the second leading cause of death in teens
  • 30% of teen girls suffer from anxiety
  • 14% of teens have had a major depressive episode
  • 60% of youth with depression did not receive treatment
By getting trained in Mental Health First Aid, you can become part of the solution

Youth Mental Health First Aid empowers parents, educators, first-responders, and other caring adults with tools and strategies to create a safe and caring community where children and teens can grow and thrive.

Sponsor this vital program with a tax-deductible donation.